Where is the strategy for dealing with learning loss during Covid?

Synopsis: As the schools reopen, it should not just be the regular business. This should be used as an opportunity to revamp the education system.

Introduction

COVID has impacted the various sections of society, especially the students. With the question of reopening the schools, the parallel debate is going on how to cover the damage and how to frame the future of schooling.

What are the recent findings?

A survey named School Children’s Online and Offline Learning (SCHOOL) was conducted to understand the impact of the prolonged closure of schools due to the pandemic. It provided various data which can be used for analysis for the education policies.

How future schools should be like?

Extended networks: Schools should be extended networks rather than being closed classroom communities. Our schooling system has to be shifted from knowledge-centric to skill-centric. As a result of knowledge-centric education, we have job seekers, we hardly have job creators passing out of the school precincts.

Pro-Active Innovators: Schools should adopt ‘innovative pedagogies’ and ‘differentiated instructions’ as per the needs of the learners to enable them to become knowledge creators and, eventually, job creators.

Future-Oriented: The future of jobs will have a direct impact on the schools of the future. Students of the future will need a new set of capabilities like – hyper-information, virtual teams, and a constant swing between super speciality and cross-disciplinary skills. So, schools should frame the curriculum according to the need of students.

Communication: Schools should forge stronger and more trusting engagement with families and communities. The online world of e-parents-teachers meetings (e-PTMs), e-guidance to parents, and social media-based active communication with parents during the pandemic has opened up an entire world of possibilities

Innovation: There is a need to innovate the methods which will reverse the impact of the pandemic. For this, a differential instructions interventions approach should be implemented.

What will be the way forward?

A simple bridge course as the schools reopen will not solve the long-term challenges. There is a need for the contribution of various stakeholders like educationists, thinkers, practitioners, etc to frame the education policy which is most suited for the future need of students.

Source: This post is based on the following articles:

• “Where is the strategy for dealing with learning loss during Covid?” published in the Indian Express on 16^th September 2021.
• “NEP Schools: The Future” published in The Hindu on 16^th September 2021.